Once Upon a Submarine
by CaspianOfTheSea
Summary: Nami has a mission. Kill all pirates or die trying. But so far, particular ones always manage to elude her. She once heard Admiral Aokiji mention how terrifying the Strawhats are, and she can't forget the worried tone of his statement, or her special vendetta against them. Perhaps, after she kills Trafalgar Law, she can steal his submarine and take matters into her own hands.


It was a relatively quiet day when Homen Riktor's bar was bombarded by the largest group of customers it had seen in a while. It was always good for business, so many customers, but these were a quiet bunch, their eyes shifty and their moods alert. It never meant well in the way of omens. This was a group expecting trouble.

They trudged in and took up three entire tables in one corner of his bar, about fifteen men in total. Tina, his upstart waitress, saw the group and looked like she was ready to throw down her tray in protest. The men ordered drinks all around, and some added food to the list. His cook's break was over, then, too.

Just as Tina slipped behind the bar and to the kitchen with her list, a woman, hair nearly as orange as the fruit and hanging down to nearly her rear, sat down at his bar. She had large, dark sunglasses on and a tiny frown, the only thing visible from her expression. She wore a small black jacket over a bikini top, and blue skinny jeans that hugged her legs. An assortment of wicked looking weapons decorated her belt, and a brown bag was slung over one shoulder. She gave Homen's curious gaze an unimpressed raise of one delicate eyebrow and ordered his biggest flagon of his strongest beer.

For a moment, Homen almost opened his mouth to say something stupid, like, "aren't you a bit skinny to be ordering drinks straight from hell?" Or, "Are you sure a pretty lass like you can handle it?" But then, he caught himself. He knew better than to question his customers about their capabilities. He had been in the business a long time, and he didn't want to end it by asking careless questions. He knew the look of a dangerous individual when he saw one, sunglasses or no. It was in their aura.

He pushed her drink towards her and watched her 'friends', the large group of men she had entered with, as she pulled it towards herself and took a large swallow.

"Should I be expecting trouble today, miss?" he asked her.

Nami followed the bartender's line of sight towards the group she had entered the Grand Line with and shrugged. "Maybe. We're expecting a particular group of pirates to pass this way, but they might not arrive until tomorrow."

"Anyone I might've heard of?"

Nami grimaced and finished her flagon. Homen refilled it for her. "Probably. They're a relatively recent group ... But they've achieved unbelievable things already," she admitted, somewhat grudgingly.

"Oh?"

Her face turned towards the tabletop, hiding what he could tell of her expression more completely. "They were a bunch of third rate pirates who came to the Grandline after managing to evade White Chase Smoker. Until a few months ago, when they made a reputation for themselves here, bowling over one country at a time. Bounty Hunter Island, the Kingdom of Alabasta, Water 7, Enies Lobby ... I'm sure you've heard of them. It's hard not to."

Homen scratched at his beard and started cleaning some glasses Tina returned from the kitchen and went to pass out drinks. "The Strawhats, eh. They're a crazy bunch. And your group really expects to achieve what the Navy has been trying so hard at these past few months?"

Nami was on her fourth flagon. "Honestly, with these idiots? No. But by myself? Sure." She gave a cheeky smile and finished another flagon.

"Your cheeks aren't even flushed yet. Maybe I believe it," Homen commented, grinning.

"Oi, Arlong girl, come play poker, we could use one more," one of her crewmates called.

Nami's expression tightened, but it was unseen from beneath her sunglasses. Homen seemed to sense it, though, and stilled to watch as she rose from her seat and walked over to her companions.

In a flash, she had Sal, the man who had called out to her, by the shirt and lifted nearly off the ground.

"Call me that again, and I'll kill you where you stand," she threatened, her face right up in his. Sal scowled but nodded hastily. She shoved him back in his chair and sat down, joining them. "Now, who's dealing?"

Homen smiled a little, and went back to his filling and cleaning, keeping an eye on her.

* * *

"Uuuooh! Let's celebrate, I'm hungry!" Strawhat Luffy's voice rang out clear across the small town, despite it being late at night. Nami was tense, sitting back at the bar after her comrades had passed out at the same table they had started playing poker at hours ago. Poker had turned into a drinking contest, something which she won easily. And now Strawhat Luffy was at the island, like they'd planned, though much later into the night and with her companions completely out of commission.

The window was cracked and she could easily hear the quieter Strawhats commenting. Her spot was prime for listening; only Homen was left to man the bar and most of the remaining customers were gone or passed out. The town was deathly quiet and any and all noise filtered perfectly through the opened window.

"Luffy, we need to be careful. There's some reputed bounty hunters staying in this town," a nonchalant, older women's voice informed the infamous Strawhat Captain.

"I don't like the look of this place. It's got island-of-doom written all over it ... Look at all the run down buildings," a more nervous sounding young man commented.

"Hopefully this rundown shit place has supplies for us to re-stock ... I'm going to go see if there's any stores still open."

"Fat chance, its the ass crack of 3 in the morning.

The voices neared, and Nami didn't even need to bother with the window anymore as they entered Homen's Bar despite the late hour.

Luckily, it was only a third of the Strawhat crew. The blonde, smoking man had walked off, leaving Sogeking, Demon Child Nico Robin, and Strawhat Luffy to enter the bar by themselves.

Luffy dropped into a seat at the bar two places down from Nami and slapped his hands on the surface. She almost jumped in surprise.

"Food!" He demanded.

Homen gained an irritated look on his face as he reached him and started taking his order. Sogeking and Nico Robin took a seat on either side of Strawhat more sedately, Sogeking closer to Nami and glancing warily at her. She stared back from behind her sunglasses, safe in the knowledge that he couldn't tell.

Homen was off in the kitchen in a jiffy, leaving the trio to wait impatiently, at least on Strawhat's part.

In just minutes, Strawhat Luffy let his face fall flat on the counter with an agonized look. "I'm so hungry," he whined. "It's taking too long."

"Patience is a virtue, Luffy. Perhaps he cut himself cooking and is laying in the kitchen, bleeding out." Nico Robin said all this with a completely bland tone of voice and a sedate look on her face. Nami sweat-dropped.

"Creepy ... I just want food."

"Luffy, you're like the thing that wouldn't stop eating," Sogeking commented. "Also, I think you should be a bit quieter ..." As he said it, Sogeking glanced warily at the slumbering Bounty Hunters over at the corner tables.

"I believe that is the group I mentioned," Nico Robin spoke up.

Luffy, head still on the table, opened his eyes wide and declared, "I remember Whiskey whats-it. They can't kill my crew!" Then, he seemed to notice Nami, who had by then made the mistake of actually turning her head to look at them.

He sat up and stared at her hard, while Nami hastened to pretend she hadn't been staring.

"Who're you?"

Nami ignored him and angled her body even further away, sipping her beer as if she was unaware that he was speaking to her.

"Usopp, move over," Luffy demanded, pushing at him with his fingers.

Usopp scowled and slapped the hands away. He kept pushing back at the insistent Strawhat captain until it evolved into a slapping war. "Luffy no, this is my seat! Just go around. Why do you want to bother her anyway, I mean, _look at her_."

Nami narrowed her eyes and scowled. Just what did he mean by that?

She had a mind to say something about it, but then, as her eyes flitted back to the trio, she found cold blue ones closer than should have been possible sticking to the inner arm of her sunglasses. She shrieked and knocked the sunglasses off in surprise, sending them flying across the room. They hit the wall with a muted thud and fell to the floor, in pieces.

She stared at them, the room frozen in surprise, and looked slowly to Nico Robin, who was staring at her sideways. She looked almost as if she was amused.

"Were you spying on me ... Inside my sunglasses?" Nami asked, unable to keep the outraged tone from her voice.

Nico Robin chuckled. "Fufufu, I was."

"Ah, Robin, that's cheating! I wanted to talk to her first," Luffy protested, pushing at Usopp's face while Usopp had his hair in a death grip and yanked harshly.

"Luhhffeh, I'll killh you, lesh go of me," Usopp's garbled voice threatened.

Homen chose that moment to come back with their meals, ignoring the scene he walked in on - though he did pause for a moment - and setting the plates down before the Strawhats. Immediately, Strawhat released his crewmate and dove into his food, yelling, "Food!" He vacuumed it up at a rate that was near impossible. Usopp, on the other hand, had to pick himself up off the floor first. He looked spitting mad, his teeth sharp like a shark's. He whipped out his slingshot and aimed it at Strawhat's hatted head. Nami's eyes widened.

"That was unacceptable, Pirate Luffy! Captain Usopp will not stand for it ...!" He released the sling, and at such close range, the pebble he had fired at his captain hit with such force that their captain's head smacked into the plate of food and then ricocheted like a bobbing head. Luffy jerked around once his head stilled and yelled at Usopp, his teeth equally sharp, "You almost made me stab myself with my fork! I'M EATING, quit bothering me!"

Usopp sat down after that. "Captain Usopp's Log ..." he muttered quietly, just loud enough for Nami to hear - and probably his crew mates too. He went on, grumbling about the injustice that had just been done to him.

Nami grimaced and felt sweaty from sheer nervousness. Just what kind of crew were they? She settled in to wait, planning to follow them once they were finished here.

At some point while waiting - there were three plates of food involved, on the Captain's part, and he was still going - Nami looked up from the depths of her tankard and noticed Strawhat and Sogeking had exchanged seats. And Strawhat was now staring at her with unnerving, unreadable eyes while still eating, albeit more slowly than before. She blinked at him stupidly, wondering when that had happened, and forgot for a moment that she wasn't wearing sunglasses anymore, staring straight back. Strawhat then stopped eating and gave her a weird look.

"Have we met, before?" He asked, abruptly.

Nami blinked and looked away. "U-Um, no, I don't think so ..."

"But I recognize you from somewhere!"

"Can't you see she doesn't want to be bothered, Luffy?" Usopp grabbed Luffy's face and forcefully turned it towards Nami's belt. "Look at her belt, Luffy, _look at all the terrifying things she's got in there!"_ he hissed in an undertone.

Luffy's lower face was squeezed together impossibly, but he still managed to say something. "I shee it, Ushopp, what elshe do you think ish in there?"

"Luffy!"

They scrabbled next to her and Nami realized now was the perfect opportunity. She was sitting so close to Strawhat that their chairs were only 3 or 4 inches apart - and he was obviously somewhat distracted. If she just pulled out one of her daggers, she could stab him in the vitals - or slit his throat - before he could even finish his own title. Her elbow brushed innocently against his red vest. She started to slip one of her side daggers out.

Sogeking chose that moment to let go of Strawhat's face, and Strawhat started turning back towards her. Her breath stuttered and she released her dagger, letting it fall back in its sheathe. Homen returned with his fourth plate, and his attention was redirected again.

Nami released a breath and stood. It was time to go, this was too dangerous. She would wait to follow them from outside. She was incapable of stabbing him right at that moment, but his purse would do for now.

"Luffy, where is the money Cook-san gave you?"

Nami jumped guiltily, freezing in the act of moving away. Nico Robin was too observant for her own good. She dropped a few coins onto the bar and hurried to leave.

"Oh, I've been robbed!"

"Oi, learn to pay attention!" Usopp growled, smacking him. Luffy yelped and held his head. "Why did Sanji even give it to you?"

"Stop hitting me! Robber girl took it. Robber girl, come back! Ah ha, she's a robber and I'm rubber, it almost rhymes."

"Oh my god. Some crazy demon women just stole our money and you're-"

"Captain, that woman was planning to stab you," Robin's calm voice interrupted. Usopp choked on his own saliva. Nami nearly did, too.

"She really was a demon woman!"

"Look, she's gone already." Luffy threw down his knife and fork and jumped up. "Shishishi, it's an eat and run!"

"What, no! Luffy!"

"OI!" Homen's voice bellowed.

"Run!"

The Strawhats burst from the bar and into the night, Usopp screaming and Luffy grinning wildly. Robin looked too dignified to be involved, but ran regardless. Nami watched them go from her hiding spot, Homen yelling and cursing and waving a meat cleaver at them. Feeling sorry for the barkeeper, Nami considered momentarily paying for their meals, but then she shook the crazy notion off and followed after the rowdy Strawhats, determined to keep them in her sight.

That was too close. She had stolen his purse instead of stabbing him, because in truth she hadn't had the courage to do it. She had been so close to getting revenge, and she froze at the last second.

Luckily, the Strawhats were having so much fun running and making noise (really, the entire town had to be awake by now) that they took no notice of the shadow following after them. After all the time and effort Nami had spent following after them, her skills were finally starting to prove themselves useful. A moderately sized, brightly colored ship came into view, and Nami felt her heart speed up just knowing she was so close to her goal. She stayed close to the buildings, watching carefully and waiting for her moment.

 _Swoosh_. A shadow flickered in her peripherals and she turned in alarm.

 _THUD_

Stars burst in Nami's vision and pain bloomed in her head as she fell backwards and into the wall behind her. She slid down the wall and had a moment to glimpse a gleaming sword held by a mouth in the darkness. Then a sword pierced her, straight through her chest. Pain like she had never known before shot through her, pulling a gurgled scream from her. She coughed and tasted blood.

The shadow of the clouds shifted and the moon gleamed brightly down on the former pirate hunter's face. He was staring coldly down at her.

"R-roronoa - Zoro ..." She stuttered, coherent enough to recognize one of the several faces she had made it her life's mission to destroy. The sword retreated, harshly, and she cried out. Her balance gave, sending her to the dusty ground.

His rough voice spoke. "They might forgive you for being too cowardly to kill Luffy, but I won't."

That just made no sense at all to Nami's fogged brain, but then he was gone and she had no other chances to ask him about it. She stared at the bright moon and felt the wind brush coolly across her face. Laughter and hooting calls could still be heard coming from the Strawhat ship. She felt cold, everywhere, except for the agonizing heat at her chest. Slowly, her eyes slipped closed.

A/N: its ok? Its ok. its just okay fff


End file.
